5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

And our second entry of the week from my friend in California!

ABUELITA (hibernation, mercy, updating, translator, guile)

It felt like I had been asleep for ages. A hibernation of sorts that in reality lasted merely one scant hour. I hadn't realized how tired I was. It may have been the hours on the road or the impending ice storm that caused me, finally to pull to the side and close my eyes. I realized that the last 50 miles were traveled by God's mercy alone. I could not recall passing through the last small town just north of the border, or crossing over into the valley.

Three days with Abuelita had worn my nerves paper thin and heightened the cause to leave that afternoon. I hadn't slept and my bowels were twisted with the delicacies that frequented their dinner plates. The translator sent by the Embassy proved to be less than adequate for my needs. Abuelita's broken, foraged, and twisted version of French, Spanish, and German served her well in the melting pot of her little village propped vicariously on the side of a cliff overlooking the sea. The communal had their own language, some sanguine mixture.

There may have been some conspiracy in determining that I would be the one to travel by car, 800 miles, into the desolation in which the village rested, to the daunting task of updating Abuelita on the death of her son. It may have been the foreknowledge of her disposition and attitude with which I would be met. Or it could have been her history of spitting at distasteful news that prevented anyone else from volunteering to go to dear Abuelita in this time of sorrow.

Whatever the reason, I knew when sour smelling spittle dotted my face and shirt that this would be the only time I would make this trip. It would be the last time I ever saw Abuelita. With guile in my heart I tossed my bag into the front seat of my car, dusted the gravel and any remnants of my visit from my feet and drove away. I didn't say goodbye, I didn't look back.


Ginger is working on a cute new layout at her blog, The Gingerbread House.

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

The first entry for this week's words, of course, from DT.

TBR...if you can find it (translator, guile, updating, hibernation, mercy)

Aiden Jones’ latest offering, The Juggling Boxer, is a uniquely crafted story of a fighter and his struggle with fading fame and his triumphant return to the spotlight.

Jones weaves the story of Mark Calnos, a boy from New Jersey who rose from a life as a circus performer to gain the heavyweight championship of the world, only to see it slip through his fingers, due to the evil guile of Billy, the half-man, half-horse.

While updating the circus website, Billy, who had become jealous of young Calnos’ success, began a rumor that Calnos’ was about to break off his engagement to the bearded lady.

In the hours that ensued, Calnos’ denial begins a public relations nightmare that led to him going into virtual hibernation in his home at Pedro’s South of the Border near Rowland, NC.

What was Calnos’ denying? His relationship? The engagement? The breakup? Was it a real beard? Was she a lady? As the story grew, it translated to disaster. Gillette dropped him as a sponsor and the National Organization for Women called for his title to be stripped. The World Circus Performer Boxing Commission (WCPBC), not wishing a scandal, did so.

But Calnos doesn’t give up. As the plot reaches a climatic finish, seven clowns, a ’73 volkswagen, a unicycle, the mercy of a fortune-telling gypsy, and four lit bowling pins help him back to the spotlight.

A paperback version should be available by next week.


dt drove by Pedro’s about 200 times…but never stopped.

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Seven on Saturday

1. A little happy: a sweet friend sent me this tea pot and matching cups "just because." I'm not a tea drinker but bought some lemon zinger yesterday and plan to sit on my porch and sip away tomorrow!


2. A cutie: photo of Matt I took from the car while he was running last week. He's being very faithful with his training plan for the marathon in Philadelphia in November. Run, George, run!

3. The end of an era: Looks like we'll be packing up all our American Girl Dolls and clothes soon. I bought Mary an American Girl planner at the local book store yesterday and she said on the way home, "You know, I really like this planner, but I don't really like the dolls anymore."

I said, "What? You don't like your dolls anymore?"

"Well, I just don't like to play with them as much anymore. I'm getting older, you know."

Gasp. Between Mary and E, we've had AG paraphernalia scattered around the house for the last ten years. A sad day, but it had to come. Hopefully, we'll have a few little grand-girls that will give those dolls some more loving one day. :-)


4. A new hairdo: Cut my hair OFF last week and I'm sooo glad! I have another appointment in five weeks and have already decided to go a bit shorter next time.

5. A new recipe: I made this cake for a friend's birthday yesterday except I added some Cinnamon and used a bag of frozen peaches instead of fresh. (I know, but I was in a hurry.) It turned out rather horrendous looking, but was oh-so-yummy!

6. Bookish things:

New books acquired this week:
Picking Cotton (Farming of Books selection for October)
Madonnas of Leningrad (recommended by a sweet lady at CCC Book Talk last week).

Reading now:
Count of Monte Cristo (FoB selection for September)
Reading is Believing (my TBR list)
Friendship (for study I'm doing and found online here.)

7. Things I am grateful for: The Word of God in my hands every day, a husband seeking after God's heart, watching my son grow into a wonderful young man, seeing joy in my teenage daughter's face, hearing laughter in my baby's voice, being part of a church body full of mercy and grace, and having friends (new and old) scattered about that I love dearly, and a job I like with people I love.

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Book Review: God's Smuggler

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew, Publisher: Chosen; 35 Anv edition (October 1, 2001),
ISBN-10: 0800793013

Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
Source: CCC Book Talk August selection

I love my church's book club because it makes me read books I would never read otherwise. Like last month's Safely Home. Christian fiction - ugh! But it was sooo good and really opened my eyes to the needs of Christians in China and convicted me of how much I take having the Word of God so much for granted.

This month's selection was another one I probably wouldn't have read on my own - the biography of Brother Andrew, the well known missionary who brought Bibles into countries behind the Iron Curtain beginning in the 60's. It's a great story, one that inspires me to more heavily lean on the Lord in all I do and to seek Him in prayer more earnestly. And, like Safely Home did last month, it makes me remember how precious it is to be able to hold the Bible and read from it any time I like.

You can check out CCC Book Talk here.

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Book Review: The Wisdom of Each Other

The Wisdom of Each Other by Eugene Peterson, Publisher: Zondervan (November 1, 2001), ISBN-10: 0310242479

Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
Source: Ordered for a study I'm doing on community/spiritual friendship

Although this book didn't turn out to be the resource I hoped it would be for a study I'm doing, it was very edifying. Reading Peterson is getting to be like talking to a friend. I'm getting used to his style of writing and am beginning to find it a little easier to read. This particular book is in a very casual style - letters from Peterson to a friend, newly converted to the Christian faith.

Here's the description from the publisher: "Honest and prayerful conversation is often hard to come by. In our reliance upon the Bible as our source of counsel, many of us overlook what the Scriptures themselves say about the importance of godly friends as a source of wisdom and practical direction for living. Eugene Peterson believes that counsel between companions engaged in a common task--that of following Christ--needs to be revived among believers. In The Wisdom of Each Other, Peterson portrays a relationship between a long-time believer and a seeker wanting to renew his commitment to Christ as they discuss the importance of living out their faith. Drawing from his own experience, Peterson helps us see how God can speak through wise, faith-filled companions, offering guidance, encouragement, and counsel for the challenges and concerns of everyday living."

I dog-eared lots of pages. Here's just a few samples:

On prayer:
"But I am convinced that regarding prayer, the most significant thing we can do begins in the imagination: seeing the day (week, month, year) as a ritual in which we are entering, responding, and participating in the ways of God. Not carving out time for God - how condescending that sounds!"

On making decisions:
"Clarification often comes through humble means, like writing and receiving letters, through conversations with friends, deliberately letting the act of Lord's Day worship establish the boundaries and size of your life. Somewhere in the midst of this prayerfulness you will make your decision (without any guarantee that it is absolutely right). And then God give grace to live out what is decided."

On worship:
"I had just spent an hour or so with friends reorienting myself in the realities of the world - the huge sweep of salvation and the minute particularities of holiness - and would blink my eyes in disbelief that so many are willing to live in such reduced and cramped conditions. But after a few hours or days, I found myself getting used to and going along with its assumptions since most of the politicians and journalists, artists and entertainers, stockbrokers and shoppers seem to assume that that was the real world. And then Sunday would come around again, and some pastor would call me back to reality, "Let us worship God." And I would get it straight again, see it whole."

Yep. A good book. Also, it's part of a series called Growing Deeper with four other volumes:

Church: Why Bother? My Personal Pilgrimage by Philip Yancey (always good!)
Disarming the Darkness: A Guide to Spiritual Warfare by Calvin Miller (like him, too)
Water My Soul: Cultivating the Interior Life by Luci Shaw (have been wanting to read her)
Whole Prayer: Speaking and Listening to God by Walter Wangerin Jr

I love it when one book leads to another!

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Book Review: What the Living Do

What the Living Do by Marie Howe, Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (April 1, 1999), ISBN-10: 0393318869

Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
Source: Random pick at a local used book store

There's a large bin of poetry volumes at our local used book store. I love to browse through them and sometimes I pick up one or two. They're only a dollar... not a big risk. A couple of weeks ago, I picked this one because the person who had it before me had underlined lots of verses and written copious notes throughout the book. To me, that's the best part about buying used books.
From Library Journal: "This compassionate memorial to illness and the loss of Howe's brother, John, and other friends ably depicts the growth and development of personal bonds against which "post-modern brokenness" is measured. This thoughtful analysis of elements of grief ("a living remedy") will perhaps help to ease trauma of death, as does Robert Frost's "Home Burial," but full comprehension of "cherishing" and pain after "the wake and the funeral" seems impossible. The best of these empathetic poems demonstrate a longing for wholeness and appreciation of the "terrified and radiant" mysteries of silence."

Most of these poems were about the death of the author's brother, or rather the dying of her brother. There were others about her childhood (which were pretty disturbing to me) and some just about life. Overall, the poems were beautiful and thoughtful and inspired me to just write about what I see. Here's some sample verses:

From Pain:

He rose on the surface of it like the layer of water on top of a wave
that won't break - you've seen those swells -

cold and moving like something breathing you can't see, collecting and
collecting until it seems uncontainable, heaving on and on, rising and

rising and growing bigger.


From The Gate:

I had no idea that the gate I would step through
to finally enter this world

would be the space my brother's body made



From What the Living Do:

But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the
window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing
so deep

for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm
speechless:
I am living, I remember you.


If you enjoy reading poetry, I'd recommend giving Marie Howe a try. If you don't like poetry, try it anyway. Reading poetry helps me look at the world with eyes just a little more open.

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Week #3 Word List

I was just about to put these tired bones to bed when I remembered I hadn't posted the next words for Week #3 of our challenge. Gasp! Thanks to those who participated last week.... Some really good stuff, guys & gals!

Translator
Mercy
Guile
Hibernation
Updating

Here's a refresher on the rules:

1. You must use each of the five words, but you can use different forms than the ones listed. (For example, if the word is looked you can use look, looking, or looks.)

2. Titled entries can be emailed to upsidedownbee [at] hotmail [dot] com. Include the name you would like to have as your signature (real name, pen name, anonymous, etc.), website address if you have one, and a short one sentence bio.

3. Entries should be monologue form (a story or poem written by a single character giving view of his or her innermost thoughts) and have a maximum length of 600 words.

4. Once the next week's five words are posted, no more entries will be accepted for the previous week's. :-) (Like I'm expecting a flood of participation. Snort!)

5. I reserve the right to not post entries that wouldn't be appropriate for the intent of my blog.

Don't forget to include a short one-sentence bio with your entry!

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Pondering This Morning...

(Lebanese Christians mark territory in East Beirut)

What does the first request mean?

Hallowed be thy name means
Help us to really know you,
to bless, worship and praise you
for all your works
and for all that shines forth from them:
your almighty power, wisdom, kindness,
justice, mercy, and truth.

Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 122

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

And yet another for this week's challenge... This makes FOUR counting mine! Thanks for playing, bloggy friends!

The Afternoon Bus

My attention was
drawn to her slight frame and
demure posture
sitting near the front
behind the driver
she seemed comfortable
in her odd position
head bopping up and down
with the motion of the transport

She wore a wool overcoat
purple
in her lap a half
knitted scarf
the needles still poised
and ready
in her clenched fists
and at her feet
sat a large green and white
shopping bag

She had fallen asleep

Napping on the bus
always seemed
so dangerous to me
I had always been
concerned more with missing
my stop
than someone accosting me

But for this small woman
I worried

Among the riders
mostly youth
looking out for trouble
but not for the sake of avoidance
her sedimentary state
would be reason enough

My mind's eye
imagined the mutiny
the driver would not be able to sequester
Boys running amok
snatching the grocery bag

What was in that bag?
Her life savings?
Bread for the poor?
Medicines for an ailing neighbor?

My mind raced me through
action
I chased the boys and
grabbed them at their sleeves
I wrestled with them
on the aisle
and returned to the lady
victorious
her bag replaced neatly between her
stockinged knees

Movement brought me back to
reality
she opened her eyes
and pulled the cord

She looked my way
and as our glances met
we paused
I smiled
she smiled
unaware of the
good fight I had just fought
on her behalf

And her eyes traced an inverse path
back to her lap

Gathering her things
and stuffing the scarf in her bag
she gently stepped down
off the afternoon bus

Ginger is enjoying keeping her skills in practice with the 5th-Grade Five Word Monologue challenge and is posting and linking back to her blog.

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

Another entry for this week's challenge! Woo-hoo!!

Table 6 (knitting, sedimentary, nap, mutiny, inverse)

Ms. Langston sat quietly in her chair as mutiny broke out at Table 6. It all started when Mr. Marble attempted to knit his sprigs of parsley into a ring to give to Ms. Fritz. She was the vixen of the nursing home. The men loved her, but the women couldn’t stand her. That she wreaked havoc among other residents on a daily basis was a source of pride that she wore like a medal.

On this particular afternoon the inverse was true. The women loved her, and the men couldn’t stand her. She had finally chosen one man, Mr. Marble, to spend her time with and the other men were apoplectic that they had been shut out of the game. As he was handing her the pitiful green ring, Mr. Melvin- a normally timid man, jumped up and slapped the table with his hand. The thump rang out so loudly that the dining room became silent. Mr. Melvin realized he was suddenly the center of attention and quickly decided to make use of the position before he lost his chance. He picked up his water glass full of food sediment and threw the sludgy liquid on Mr. Marble. Mr. Marble, not one to be shown up, picked up his lemon meringue pie and hurled it back at Mr. Melvin.

Unfortunately it landed right in the face of Nurse Howe. This is the reason the evening program was cancelled for them, yes all 4 of them at Table 6. Ms. Langston who had been oblivious to it all until the water slinging and pie throwing was now in just as much trouble as the Fritz Tart and her 2 love sick puppies. If she was going to be in trouble she was going down for a reason. She picked up her plate of parsley sprigs, orange rinds, creamed potatoes and chicken bones and deftly placed them on the tip top of Ms. Fritz’s head. Ms. Fritz jumped up and began shaking her until her head felt like it was going to fall off.

In her confusion she heard a voice calling out, “Ms. Langston wake up. Nap time is over. Let’s get cleaned up for dinner.”

What? Dinner? She sighed. The biggest excitement in the last month and it had all been a dream. Maybe she would just have to liven things up a bit. Yes, she was suddenly looking forward to dinner at Table 6.


"S" is a one-time blogger who is dipping her toes back into the waters of writing!

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Christ of the Breadlines

This woodcutting by Fritz Eichenberg (1950) titled Christ of the Breadlines was part of my devotional reading this morning in Space for God. I had never seen it before and thought it was simply breathtaking.

Also from this morning's reading:

"The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." ~Vincent Van Gogh

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Soul-Fatting

Happy Monday morning, all!

I came across a reference to an intriging word last night as I finished up The Wisdom of Each Other by Eugene Peterson. (Review to come!) The word was mentioned in reference to a Bible study Peterson's "friend" had been telling him about. Here's the passage:

"The descriptions you send me... of the insights and probes, the relationships and prayer that take place week by week as you plod through Mark's gospel are always a delight to read. "Soul-fatting" was the old Puritan expression for it."

Soul-fatting. Hmm...

I found this reference to the same term in a study guide for Knowing God by J.I. Packer:

"One milestone in this merciful process, so far as it has gone...has been the discovery that the first thing to ask of any Scripture is not what it tells me about myself, but what it says about my God. That is the open secret of right-minded and (to borrow a Puritan word) "soul-fatting" Bible study..."

Love that: "The first thing to ask of any Scripture is not what it tells me about myself, but what it says about my God."

Praying that our time in the Word this week be "soul-fatting."

Blessings -

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

Here's my entry for the week. True Story (mostly...he didn't have a crew cut, but I had to get "nap" in there somehow!)

Boone's vs. Opus (Mutiny, Inversely, Knitted, Napping, Sedimentary)

A couple of weekends ago Matt and I went to a friend’s 40th birthday party. Turns out, he’s a wine connoisseur. (We thought he was just a golf pro. Who knew?) He has a wine cellar and quite a collection of primo wine. Now, I say I enjoy good wine, but the most expensive I’ve ever had was probably a ten dollar glass of red at an upscale restaurant in Pinehurst. And I chose that because it was the cheapest option on the wine list. I’ve always thought how good a wine actually tastes and how much the bottle costs were inversely proportional. Case-in-point, consider the classic Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. It’s about $3.79 a bottle and is, as far as my palette is concerned, quite tasty. My experience has been, the lower the price, the higher it falls on the “Mmmm, that’s good” scale.

So, back to the party. On arrival, we were ushered into the dining room where our friend had opened several bottles for the celebration. There was an odd-shaped glass container in the center of the table that we soon found out was a wine decanter. The decanter, we were informed, allows wine to “breathe” properly before drinking. (It also makes it really hard to pour out the last drop.) Our host proceeded to give us all the ins and outs of the wines he had chosen for the night. This included pointing out the sediment in the bottom of one bottle. (I made a mental note not to choose that option to go with my steak dinner. Who wants to find dregs in the bottom of your glass after that last swallow? What are those little brown specs anyway? Dirt that didn’t get washed off the feet of all those women who stomped the grapes?)

In particular, our host was excited about two Opus One bottles he had decided to open, one from 1993 and one from 1994. I know it wasn’t the most polite thing to do, but he was so excited and I just had to ask, “How much exactly are these?”

He knitted his brows together and squinted, then rubbed the bristly nap of his crew cut. Looking at the ceiling he said, “In today’s market, the 1993 is going for about $375.”

Ack! Can you believe it? I couldn’t imagine. I almost decided to have some fun, mutiny the whole thing, and pass up the opportunity to drink a glass of wine that probably cost more than my monthly water bill. I thought about saying, “No thanks. I’ll just have a little of the Herding Cats we picked up at the Food Lion on the way over.” But, I refrained… and tried the Opus One.

And that, my friends, I have to tell you, was some pretty dog-gone good stuff. I’m still no wine snob, but I at least could tell the difference between a …mmm… let’s say… 60 dollar glass of wine and a 60 cent glass of Strawberry Hill!

But, I’m not planning to run out and buy a bottle of Opus One anytime soon, though. Why should I when I’ve got friends willing to share? ;->

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Seven on Saturday

G'day, all! How has your week been?

1. E started a class at the community college she's taking for both credit at high school and for college this week. She actually has to get up and be somewhere by 8am! Mercy! But, she's getting there in style since she got a car of her very own this past Sunday. Some friends sold us their gently used car and we're all very excited. (No more calls to me at work saying, "Mom, when are you coming home? I need to go....") She starts all of her other classes this week. Only two more years! Hard to believe.

2. Sean is home! Sean is home! His friend M is back at school, so he's mysteriously reappeared around the house. Although, he still assures me, he has one foot out the door. :-) He got to fly this week, too, which was good.

3. Over the past week, I've seen three movies:

New in Town (Cute. Liked it...I mean, Harry Connick, Jr. is in it so who wouldn't like it? He's the best export my home state has ever produced!)
Bolt (Watched this with Mary at home Friday night. We both liked it a lot. She cried. I did, too, maybe just a little.)
Inglorious Basterds (Matt and I went to see this Friday afternoon...his suggestion. We went on a whim without really checking it out first. Violent, intense, brutal... I spent at least 20% of the time with my hands over my eyes and Matt saying, "Don't look, don't look. They're really showing this. Don't look. Ok. Now you can look." Interesting storyline and Brad Pitt is just an amazing actor, but I can't recommend it at all. Definitely a guy movie. Matt liked it, I didn't it.)

4. I went to breakfast this morning with my friend who is sick. I realized how much she has taught me in the past years and how God is using her to teach me even more as she is having to face all the realities of this illness. After breakfast I went for a long walk at a local park and thought and prayed about a lot of things. I thanked God for the opportunity to walk with my friend during her time in the Valley. And then it struck me as I watched all these people walking around me - young, old, couples, singles, strollers, runners, strong, weak - we're all walking in the Valley of the Shadow... We're all making this same trek whether we realize it or not. Then, tonight, I read:

"We live in a culture that is so determined to eliminate death and weakness from our awareness that it requires a deliberate intervention on our part to maintain some intimate touch with this essential reality of our existence. How distorted our imaginations become if we forget, even for a day or so, that we are going to die. Amnesia regarding death soon develops into illusions regarding life...We cannot live well if we are not preparing to die well." Eugene Peterson

5. What I'm reading right now:

The Wisdom of Each Other by Eugene Peterson (For a study on Christian community)
Reading is Believing by David S. Cunningham (TBR Christian Non-Fiction List)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Farming of Books)
God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew (CCC Book Talk)
What the Living Do by Marie Howe (Poetry)

6. I go over to Poetic Asides at least weekly and sometimes participate in Robert's prompt. I just realized there's another blog from an editor of Writer's Digest that gives three prompts a week for 'flash fiction.' It's called Promptly. Looks like fun.

7. Woo-hoo! Walked 18.5 miles this week...my dogs are barking! :-> That doesn't mean I'm doing anything like eating healthy, too. That would be just a little extreme, don't ya think?

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

Ah - the first entry for our second week of the 5th-Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge!

I see...hmm…go on… (mutiny, inverse, knitted, napping, sedimentary)

I looked over my glasses at my patient as he said he was thinking of hiking through the Grand Canyon next spring. I knitted my brow, opened my mouth to speak, but quickly decided against it and looked back down at my clipboard.

This was a really tough one, I thought.

Feeling self-conscious and hating the silence, he launched into a long explanation of why…his life was sedimentary, the same old rut day after day and the pills I gave him had the inverse effect of what they were intended to do…he didn’t feel better about anything, he said, in fact, he felt worse. He said he’d been napping during the day and didn’t feel like doing anything.

I chewed my lip and tapped my pencil lightly on the clipboard. Usually, Wednesday is easier than this, I thought.

As he continued to talk, I studied my clipboard…I wanted to ask, but it didn’t seem like the best moment to see if he knew who played Mr. Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty.


dt likes crossword puzzles…and so you don’t worry, he’s not a therapist.

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Book Review: The Prodigal God

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller, Hardcover: 160 pages, Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 30, 2008), ISBN-10: 0525950796

Source: Farming of Books Selection for August (See sidebar waaaay down at the bottom)
Rating: Book Club Rating = 4.2 STARS; Mine = 4.0 STARS

Tim Keller is probably one of my most favorite preachers to listen to. I put him up there in my top five and I've been fortunate to hear him in person probably three or four times at his church in NYC. But mainly I download sermons and listen to them driving back and forth to work or on long walks. (The first time I ever heard of him was when Matt came back from a PCA Mercy Ministry Conference talking about hearing this cool pastor from New York speak and how he exhorted the crowd to just get out there and do something, anything! to help the poor.)

So, I was happy to see The Prodigal God as our book club's selection. It's a really short read based on Jesus's parable we typically call "The Prodigal Son" The first half went a little slowly for me, but, then Wow! the second half gave me a lot to think about.

First of all, the title catches you a little off-guard. The Prodigal God? Huh? Well, prodigal means (according to TK) 1. recklessly extravagant, 2. having spent everything. So, the title's point is that God is a recklessly extravagant, spending everything on His children.

Second, the whole aim of the book is really at those (us - gulp!) elder brothers out there. Keller looks at younger brothers, lost in the world, but spends a lot more time on people in perhaps a more dangerous position of being lost in their religiosity. If you're a believer, be prepared to take a hard look at yourself after reading this book.

Third, Keller then takes a look at what the elder brother should have really been like, what he should have done for his younger brother. And from that discussion you end up with a beautiful picture of Christ as the true elder brother, one who sacrifices and leaves home to find and save that younger brother out in the world.

The slowness at the beginning is why I didn't give it a 5, but I highly recommend it to you, bloggy friends, and I've got it in my "read again" pile.

A few quotes:

Mercy and forgiveness must be free and unmerited to the wrongdoer. If the wrongdoer has to do something to merit it, then it isn't mercy, but forgiveness always comes at a cost to the one granting forgiveness. (Something my pastor Ken taught me a long time ago.)

There seems to be a sense, then, in which we are all like the younger brother. We are all exiles, always longing for home. We are always traveling, never arriving. The houses and families we actually inhabit are only inns along the way, but they aren't home. Home continues to evade us.

Speaking of the preacher that changed his way of thinking about Christianity (Dr. Ed Clowney): ...he also taught me that it was possible to be theologically sound and completely orthodox and yet unfailingly gracious - a rare and precious combination.

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The Joy of the Lord

This week I've been reading in Nehemiah and I saw an old verse in a new way:

Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

The notes in my ESV Study Bible (which is a great study Bible, by the way) said this for Nehemiah 8:10:

As the people rejoiced in God and delighted in his presence, he would show himself strong to help them and defend them. “Joy” was a keynote because God had saved Israel, in both the remote and the recent past, and this story of salvation would have been told again in the reading of the Book of the Law.

I always thought of the phrase "the joy of the Lord is your strength" as meaning that the joy I should have IN the Lord is where my strength comes from and, therefore, if I didn't have JOY then I wasn't going to have any STRENGTH, either. (Granted, joy is a fruit of the spirit and we as believers should have joy no matter our circumstances, still that joy isn't necessarily the source of our strength.) This is the first time I considered that GOD'S JOY is where I should find strength. That leads me to ask what exactly is GOD'S JOY?

In Nehemiah, the Israelites had just finished listening to the Law (ie, the Pentateuch) being read to them (standing up for half a day no less!), so they had just heard all the great stories of how God has loved His people. From listening and pondering what they had just heard, I suppose they surmised that His joy was in being a faithful, forgiving, providential, loving God.

And in Hebrews we are told that Jesus "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame." I've heard (or read somewhere) this verse explained that the joy set before Christ was His Bride... the Church... us!

So - I'm praying today that I (and you!) will find my strength in the joy of the Lord, that I will remember that He is mighty to save, and that He never abandons His people. His joy is in saving us, His Bride!

Eat the fat and drink the sweet wine and send to those who have nothing prepared! Do not be grieved, for the JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!

Have a good day, bloggy friends! - B.

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Week #2 Word List

OK, here they are: five more exciting words for Week #2 of the Fifth-Grade Monologue Challenge. (See rules here.)

mutiny
inverse
knitted
napping
sedimentary

(Mary was very disappointed that I didn't use the Straight Strait of Magellan. :-> )

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Fifth Grade Five Word Monologue

I've fretted (ha!) over these five words all week, trying to figure out how to weave them together. (See Week #1 Word List and rules for the challenge here.)

Finally, here's my entry, based on a childhood memory. I think it was the Christopher Columbus that made it so tough!

The Turn-Around Point

Our bare feet pedaled
furiously down the
straight and flat
asphalt road.

Sticky fingers wrapped
around handlebars
that had long lost
their luster to a fine
lace of polka dot rust.

Heat monkeys danced
nimbly above the
blacktop and
(I imagined)
wore contemptuous
grins on their little
vapor faces, knowing
full well we would
never catch them.

We rode like Christopher Columbus
and the Pinzon Brothers:
me at point, flanked by Angie
and Tammy, our eyes set on
the horizon where the road
disappeared around a ninety
degree curve –
“The Turn-Around Point.”

Beyond that, our mothers
fretted, we would disappear,
fall off the edge of the world
never to be heard from again,
forevermore known as the
Three Little Lost Girls.

Under the Louisiana summer
sun, the road wept tiny tears
of tar like Jesus in our Sunday
School lesson:

“And being in anguish,
he prayed more earnestly,
and his sweat was like
drops of blood falling
to the ground.”

We paused at the curve
and looked to the New World
beckoning us beyond the Old,
then turned and rode
home.

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Bruised Spices

C. H. Spurgeon on prayer:

"Possibly you have sometimes said, "I feel so sorrowful that I cannot pray." No, Brother, that is the very time when you must pray. As the spices, when bruised, give forth all the more fragrance because of the bruising, so let the sorrow of your spirit cause it to send forth the more fervent prayer to the God who is both able and willing to deliver you! You must express your sorrow in one way or another, so let it not be expressed in murmuring, but in supplication! It is a vile temptation, on the part of Satan, to keep you away from the Mercy Seat when you have most need to go there - but do not yield to that temptation!"

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Seven on Saturday

Hmm... It's felt like a busy week, but I can't put my finger on exactly why.

1. Friday was Matt's bday... the big Double-Four! Our neighbor turned 40 on the same day and included us in his family's celebration. It was lots of fun.... an appetizer salad to die for (diced tomatoes, avocados, red onions, drizzled with olive oil and basil), steak, shrimp, spinach salad, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, yeast rolls, crock pot fudge cake, and banana pudding. Oh - and our neighbor is a wine collector so he opened two really nice bottles of wine for the occasion - ooo-la-la! Very good!

2. I made the spinach salad and used a combination of a few recipes. It was yum! Here's what I did:

Salad:
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 11oz. can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 small package of pine nuts
6 pieces of crispy bacon, crumbled
1/2 large red onion, sliced thin

Poppy Seed Dressing:
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
4 tsp. sugar
2/3 tsp. dry mustard
2/3 tsp. salt
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. poppy seeds

Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard, and salt in blender or processor; mix well. Add lemon juice. With machine running, gradually add oil. Stir in poppy seeds. Pour dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

3. My friend who is sick had such a better week than last. I'm so very thankful.


4. Another friend's birthday is Sunday and a group of gals went to dinner tonight to celebrate. I had "Lump Crab Cakes with grilled fresh asparagus, corn pudding, and roasted red pepper coulis garnished with crispy julienne leeks." Is your mouth watering? Most delicious.

5. Matt and I went to an orientation class for Community Bible Study this week. We'll be studying Genesis together as a couple with them on Tuesday nights. I'm so excited!

6. On prayer: Prayer means yearning for the simple presence of God, for a personal understanding of His word, for knowledge of His will and for capacity to hear and obey Him.... (Thomas Merton)

7. Here's a cool site where you can make slide shows with your photos.

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New Addition to Menu Bar

Here's a quick click on the menu bar so you can find the latest 5th-Grade Five Word Monologues!

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An Odd Way to Heal

I’ve been reading in the Gospel of Mark this week and there are a couple stories that keep coming back to me. One is in Mark 7:31-37, when Jesus healed the deaf and mute man:

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

There's all kinds of commentaries out there that discuss and speculate on the odd way Jesus healed this man. Sticking His fingers in the deaf-mute's ears? Putting His own spit on the man's tongue? Hmm... The idea that seems to make the most sense to me is that Jesus did those two physical things first as a kind of sign language. The deaf-mute man wasn't going to be able to hear the words of healing Jesus was about to say, he wasn't going to understand what was happening to him. Jesus was kindly preparing the man, "speaking" to him in a way he could understand, before He got down to the business of healing.

Jesus does that today, no? Coming down to our level (the Bible), to our place (this old Earth), and letting us know how He's ultimately going to heal us (His blood shed on the Cross - just as odd of a way of healing as putting fingers in ears and spit on tongues!)

Also from this passage I’ve been thinking about the Aramaic word Jesus used, ephphatha, and how Jesus speaks it into our lives today through His Word...

Jesus used this command (Be opened!) to allow the opening of two things in the deaf-mute man. First, his ears so he could receive something into himself and second, his mouth that he might give something from himself. To me, the most obvious thing he would be receiving and giving would be words.

So, I’m praying to be open to hearing the Word of God, whether it be through reading it myself, through hearing it preached, or through the words God puts in the mouths of family and friends. And I'm praying that my tongue would also be loosed to speak boldly of the grace that God has so abundantly showered upon me.

Thanks for reading my ramblings and blessings to you, bloggy friends -

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5-th Grade Five Word Monologue

And another! Joy abounds! Thanks for participating, bloggy friends!

Really?

"Really?" That's all I could say to her. My heart was broken and the remnants were falling with a terrible thud against every vital organ in my body and settling at the soles of my feet. Glaring at me with a contemptuous look on her face; a sly grin and daring stare, I knew right away that all that we had had changed in an instant. Her skin had lost it's luster and she bore a shallow, dank complexion. She was not the child I had known, the one who wore pigtails and ruffled dresses. She was no longer the one who I nursed through illness in the wee hours, feeding droppers full of apple juice and pressing cool towels against her forehead. This was not child who's grateful eyes met mine in the shadows of her room as we cuddled together on a much too tiny toddler bed. I had fretted many nights, crying and praying for my daughter, asking God to help her find her way. But as is the mind of teenage girls, less interested in classroom lessons on Christopher Columbus and New World explorations, more in boys and impressions, I found myself at this impasse. I stood, bewildered at her know-it-all persona, mouth hanging open, confused and distressed as I repeated the only word I could force to leave my body... "really?"

I met Ginger through Poetic Asides PAD competition. You can read her poems and see her craftiness at her blog, The Gingerbread House.

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue

Yea!! Our first 5th-Grade Five Word Monologue entry! Oh, happy day!!

"If You Don't Like It, There's the Plank"

Now, maybe I’m imagining it, but it seems to me that I get this contemptuous look when I pull it out. I remember the first time I played it for her, she thought it was interesting, but now it has completely lost its luster, and I can understand it, for the most part.

After all, fretting a new chord for a forward-reverse roll isn’t exactly a jaw-dropper. I just wish she wouldn’t go to the other room when I start to open the case.

But it could be that’s why Christopher Columbus became a boat captain…maybe he wasn’t looking for a short cut to the West Indies…perhaps he just wanted everyone to have to stick around when he played the banjo.

dt hopes to someday entertain his wife with his banjo...

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Birthday Suit!

And here's the birthday boy in his birthday suit today! (He's just being a great sport and modeling some new safety equipment I ordered.) Love you, George! BTW - He's 40 (+4) today... much, much older than me! ;-p

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5th-Grade Five Word Monologue Challenge

Early in 2008 I came across a blog called Five Word Monologues. Every two weeks five common words were posted and readers were encouraged to write a short monologue using all five. Then we would send our titled monologue along with a name (or pen-name) and a short bio to her (or his...never was sure) email account. He/she would then post our writings to the blog.

Alas, the Five Word Monologuer (is that a word?) disappeared sometime in June of 2008 and has not been heard from since. Is she sick? Or worse - dead? Or maybe just appalled at our atrocious writing? Whatever the case, several friends and I really enjoyed the challenge and mourned the silence of our five word bloggy friend. I personally loved reading all the creative monologues my friends would come up with.

So - driving Mary to school this morning and calling out her spelling words gave me the idea to try my own challenge using five of her spelling words each week. I think a better name would be "5th-Grade Five Word Monologue." What do you think?

Here are the rules:

1. You must use each of the five words, but you can use different forms than the ones listed. (For example, if the word is looked you can use look, looking, or looks.)

2. Titled entries can be emailed to upsidedownbee [at] hotmail [dot] com. Include the name you would like to have as your signature (real name, pen name, anonymous, etc.), website address if you have one, and a short one sentence bio.

3. Entries should be monologue form (a story or poem written by a single character giving view of his or her innermost thoughts) and have a maximum length of 600 words.

4. Once the next week's five words are posted, no more entries will be accepted for the previous week's. :-) (Like I'm expecting a flood of participation. Snort!)

5. I reserve the right to not post entries that wouldn't be appropriate for the intent of my blog.

OK - ARE YOU READY?? I can sense the excitement brewing out there!! Here they are.... insert drum roll here... the first five words for the 5th Grade Five Word Monologue taken from Mary's spelling list:

Dropper
Luster
Contemptuous
Christopher Columbus (I know, but you can do it!)
Fretted

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